Shen Xiaochuan stepped out of Blacksmith Shop, the heatwave leaving him behind.
He stood at the doorway, gazing at the haystack by the wall.
Lolia lay there, her head tilted to one side, her breathing shallow.
She still clutched half a sheet of paper in her hand, her knuckles white.
Shen Xiaochuan walked over, squatted down, and gently touched her shoulder.
She jolted and opened her eyes.
“The Supreme God?”
“You sleep here?”
“I…
just want to rest for a while.”
She sat up and quickly hid the blueprints behind her back.
“The weapon design is almost complete.”
Shen Xiaochuan looked at her face.
It was covered in dust, and her lips were dry, cracked, and peeling.
“How long has it been since you changed your clothes?”
Lolia looked down.
“This outfit is still wearable.”
” Blacksmith Shop has vacant rooms, why don’t you go in and stay there?”
“The workers are all busy, and I don’t want to cause them any trouble.”
Shen Xiaochuan stood up.
“From now on, you’ll live in the inner room.
The door faces south, so it gets good natural light.”
“But that’s a warehouse…”
“This is your room now.”
He turned around and called out to Dao, ” Chen Yan!”
Chen Yan immediately ran over, “Here!”
“Take two people and move Lolia’s things into the main house.
Also, find two new sets of clothes; the fabric should be soft so she won’t have an allergic reaction.”
“yes!”
“Also, from now on, she can have an extra serving of meat every day, and put it on my tab.”
Chen Yan glanced at Lolia, nodded, and left.
Shen Xiaochuan walked back and said, “Come in with me.”
Lolia followed him into the inner room.
The room was small, but clean and tidy, with a new wooden bed in the corner.
“You’ll be living here from now on.”
He said, “I don’t accept rejection.”
Lolia stood at the doorway, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes.
“I know you are a prisoner, Dao.”
Shen Xiaochuan spoke up, “But I judge people by their background.
You can repair mining machines and draw war spear diagrams, that’s real skill.
Skydome City needs people like you to be built.”
She looked up.
“I want to stay.
Not because of the house, but…
because I feel useful here.”
“Then let’s not waste our time.”
Shen Xiaochuan opened Faith Mall.
“You said you needed a High-Pressure Forging Machine?
I’ve already redeemed the blueprints.”
A glint flashed in Lolia’s eyes.
“With it, the bloodline ore can be purified stably, and the pass rate of the new spear can be increased to 70%.”
“not enough.”
How high do you want to go?
“hundred percent.”
“impossible.”
She shook her head.
” Materials have impurities, and craftsmanship has errors.
Even the most skilled craftsmen will produce defective products.
Our best craftsmen from the dwarf human race can only achieve 92% of the required quality.”
I meant 100%.
“Don’t you know how difficult it is for Dao to forge an excellent-grade weapon?”
“I know Dao.”
Shen Xiaochuan clicked on the mall, “So I prepared this.”
A blueprint pops up on the screen: [Precision Iron Forging Technique – Intermediate ].
Price: 500 faith points.
He clicked to redeem.
[Redeem successful]
A scroll with a metallic sheen fell into his hand.
He handed it to Lolia.
“What era is this craftsmanship from?”
“future.”
“future?”
“Three hundred years later.”
He said, “It’s two levels above current technology.
Combined with the High-Pressure Forging Machine, it can control the error to within one-thousandth of a millimeter.”
Lolia took the scroll, her hands trembling slightly.
“This thing…
can change the entire forging system.”
“Then go and change it.”
She looked up.
“I can make the new type of spear you want.
But there’s a problem with excellent-grade weapons—the probability of them advancing to higher levels is extremely low.
Our tribe has a legend that only one out of every thousand spears forged might possess a faint spiritual quality.”
What does it mean to be inherently spiritual?
“It means it can absorb energy on its own and gradually improve its quality.
For example, an ordinary spear can become a fine-grade spear or even an excellent-grade spear after prolonged use.”
“One in a thousand?”
“right.”
Shen Xiaochuan touched the copper gear on his sleeve.
“That’s enough.
As long as there’s even a sliver of a possibility, I’m willing to invest resources.”
He walked towards the door.
“From today onwards, you will be fully in charge of weapons development.
I will assign two soldiers to protect you, and no one may disturb your work without my orders.”
Why do you value me so much?
“Because what you do determines whether Skydome City can survive.”
He said, “Others compete on troop strength, I compete on equipment.
When the enemy’s knives are still of the ‘good’ grade, my soldiers are already on the battlefield with ‘excellent grade ‘ weapons.”
Lolia stood there, holding the scroll.
I won’t let you down.
Shen Xiaochuan stopped and turned to look at her.
“There’s one more thing.”
“Go on,” Lolia said, looking up slightly, her eyes showing exhaustion.
“Stop staying up late.
Look at yourself now, your dark circles are so bad.”
Shen Xiaochuan pointed at her eyes, “If you fall, the progress will stop.
What I need is for you to keep working, not just one desperate attempt.”
She didn’t say anything.
“I need to see the first test report of the new process tomorrow morning.
It can be late, but it can’t be absent.”
“May I ask you a question?” Lolia suddenly spoke up.
“explain.”
Why do you believe I can do it?
Just because I drew a few pictures?
“more than.”
Shen Xiaochuan turned around and said, “You were still talking about mine safety before you fell ill, and you were still drawing design plans while you were unconscious.
If I don’t trust someone like that, who do I trust?”
After saying that, he turned and left.
Outside the door, two soldiers were already lined up and waiting. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Your only task is to ensure Lolia’s safety.
When she eats, you guard the door; when she sleeps, you guard the window.
Report any unusual activity immediately.”
“yes!”
Shen Xiaochuan glanced at the closed door, then turned and left.
People bustled about the square.
New grain storage sheds were being heightened, and workers were moving timber back and forth.
He walked to the memo board, picked up the charcoal pencil, and wrote:
The fifth day of the first year of the Divine Kingdom’s calendar.
Today, the Divine Kingdom’s upgrade is complete, covering an area of five million square meters, with the addition of residential areas and exclusive building modules.
The requirements for unlocking a Superior God Kingdom have been updated: You need to have three large resource mines, 100,000 Believers, and at least one excellent-grade mass-produced weapon.
Current progress: Resource mine x1, Believers 8,300, weapon level capped at Excellent.
The gap is obvious.
He put down his pen and looked toward Blacksmith Shop.
The lights were on over there.
He knew that Dao and Lolia had already started working.
The next morning, as soon as Shen Xiaochuan stepped into the square, Chen Yan ran towards him.
” We have news from Lolia.”
“explain.”
“She didn’t sleep last night.
She stayed up all night, leading three craftsmen in seven rounds of testing.
The High-Pressure Forging Machine is installed, and [Precision Iron Forging Technique] has also completed its initial adaptation.”
“And then what happened?”
“The first batch of prototype spears consists of ten spears.”
Chen Yan’s voice lowered, “One of them, the test showed it was an excellent grade.”
Shen Xiaochuan suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Which one?
Chen Yan handed over a metal plate.
“Number 007.
The detector automatically marked it with red light.”
Shen Xiaochuan took the sign; it had a fine line engraved on it and felt slightly warm to the touch.
“She asked me to tell you something.”
Chen Yan’s tone shifted to one of excitement.
“Oh?
What did you say?”
Shen Xiaochuan raised an eyebrow.
She said—this is not a transportation.
Chen Yan raised her voice slightly, as if she was also proud of her.
Shen Xiaochuan gripped the metal plaque tightly and walked towards Blacksmith Shop.
Pushing open the door, Lolia was slumped over the table.
Her face was covered in sweat, her hair was plastered to her forehead, and she was still holding a charcoal pencil in her hand.
There was a thick stack of papers on the table, all filled with densely packed data records.
Shen Xiaochuan did not wake her.
He took off his coat and gently covered her with it, then picked up the top piece of paper.
The title reads: “First Day Test Report of New Type of Spear”.
Below are seven sets of data, covering temperature, pressure, cooling time, metal crystallinity, etc.
Write “Dao” at the end:
[With the support of precision forging techniques, the High-Pressure Forging Machine can consistently output products close to excellent grade standards.
The current bottleneck is not with the equipment, but with the operator’s physical limits.
Recommendation: Increase the number of shift workers and establish standardized processes.]
After reading it, Shen Xiaochuan gently put the paper back in its original place.
He glanced at the forging machine in the corner.
The outer casing was not yet fully assembled, and several tubes were exposed, but the core had already begun to operate, emitting a low hum.
He turned and went out, telling the guard, “Anyone who comes looking for her today must say she’s resting.
No one is to be woken up without my order.”
“yes!”
Shen Xiaochuan walked towards the Main Hall, passing through an open space.
Workers are digging the foundation.
Someone recognized him and exclaimed, “God!”
Everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
Shen Xiaochuan raised his hand to signal, and continued forward.